Author: ntack

Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter Electronic

Natalie Tack

One sentence that describes my project: A device that transmits location via radio when activated by the user in an emergency.

Image of Poster:

Video:

What the project does and how it works:

My project is a Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter. It transmits a radio message that has a generic call for help with specific GPS coordinates when the user sends the transmission. The user sends the transmission by pressing the patch 3 times, then the device vibrates twice, then the device waits 1 minute (30 seconds for demo purposes), then vibrates once more, then sends the radio transmission. This radio transmission then repeats once per minute .

When the user presses the button three times, the vibrator is activated for 2 pulses and the GPS module is activated, then if there is no user input in the 1 minute time period, the radio module is activated and the generic message for help and specific GPS coordinates are sent (specifically over the 89.00 FM frequency).

Overall thoughts:

Overall, I am pleased with my project, I have always been interested in radio, so this project was really interesting for me to work on. The only thing I am really disappointed in is that I was not able to broadcast the radio waves very far (mostly because I was afraid of breaking some laws regarding how far one can transmit for recreational purposes) and also that I relied heavily on the radio module to transmit the messages.

Comparison to Original Project Description:

After establishing the original description for this project I would say that this project does what I initially sought out to do, when activated, a distress signal containing GPS coordinates is transmitted over the radio. However, this device is not practical if the distance between the radio transmitter and the receiver has to be close. I think the original goal was to have the radio transmitter and receiver far away from one another, so I guess in this respect my goal was not met (primarily due to the reason stated above).

Latest Hurdles:

The biggest challenge I encountered towards the end of the project was getting all of my connections to stay connected. I found that the single core wire I used (kinda as a last resort) worked the best for not pulling out of the soldering. In the video above it is the white wire with the red stripe on the side, I ended up replacing the most challenging connections (which were 3-4 connections as shown in the video).

If I had more time:

There is actually quite a lot I would do if I had more time, the first being replacing all of the connections with single core wire connections. The second being instead of pushing a button, having a slide on the front of the patch that pushes the battery into the device (this would help the battery to only be used when needed – not powering the circuit playground all the time). The second change I would do is to fix the issue of the soft button being very sensitive (pressing when it is not supposed to). The third thing I would do is to find a way to say the emergency message more clearly over the radio. The fourth thing I would do is figure out how to transmit the radio waves farther without infringing on the law (this is actually the fix I would focus the most on, because it’s an operational fix, the others are mostly design fixes).

Final Material List:

1. FM Stereo Radio Transmitter
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-Stereo-Transmitter-RBDS-Breakout/dp/B00SK8ME4Y#
2. GPS Module
   1. Price: $40
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/746
3. Vibration Module
   1. Price: $6.95
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11008?_ga=2.218497438.624035456.1554576553-2048369341.1554576553
4. Patch
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: http://eliteembroideryandscreenprinting.com/
5. Transistor
   1. Price: $0.30
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/on-semiconductor/PN2222ABU/PN2222AFS-ND/6534&?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9Kmo5G84QIV1LjACh2IEQZDEAQYAyABEgJoIfD_BwE

Project Post #7: ROETE

Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter Electronic

Natalie Tack

One sentence that describes my project: A device that transmits location via radio when activated by the user in an emergency.

Weekly Accomplishments:

I soldered all of the electronic components together, including the circuit playground express. I then hand-sewed (my sewing machine was broken) my little pocket together and sewed the components to the pocket. I also sewed the button to the front of the pocket and connected the conductive thread to the gnd and A3 pins on the circuit playground express.

Images:

Material List:

1. FM Stereo Radio Transmitter
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-Stereo-Transmitter-RBDS-Breakout/dp/B00SK8ME4Y#
2. GPS Module
   1. Price: $40
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/746
3. Vibration Module
   1. Price: $6.95
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11008?_ga=2.218497438.624035456.1554576553-2048369341.1554576553
4. Patch
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: http://eliteembroideryandscreenprinting.com/
5. Transistor
   1. Price: $0.30
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/on-semiconductor/PN2222ABU/PN2222AFS-ND/6534&?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9Kmo5G84QIV1LjACh2IEQZDEAQYAyABEgJoIfD_BwE

Areas of Concern:

I do not have any concerns for this past week. My primary focus for this next week will be getting the little pocket and patch installed onto the jacket. The pocket being inside the jacket’s front chest pocket and the patch being sewed onto the front outside the jacket’s front chest pocket.

Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter Electronic

Natalie Tack

One sentence that describes my project: A device that transmits location via radio when activated in an emergency.

Weekly Accomplishments:

I figured out how to parse the GPS coordinates, I hit a snag with the remove method in Arduino, if you use remove(0) I thought it would remove the first character at index 0 in a string. I was wrong, it removes everything in a string from the zero index onward. So I fixed that problem.

I also programmed the device to wait for 3 button clicks, then buzz twice, then wait 30 seconds (less than a minute for demo purposes), then if no user input, the broadcast starts after the 30 seconds.

I also got the patch this week and found a jacket with an inside pocket that might work better for putting the radio transmitter in.

Earlier in the week I had problems with the radio connections again, as the radio wasn’t being registered as connected to the Circuit Playground Express. Hopefully this next week I can solder the connections and they’ll work all the time.

Image (not new, but showing the connections I’m having problems with):

Image (patches):

Material List:

1. FM Stereo Radio Transmitter
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-Stereo-Transmitter-RBDS-Breakout/dp/B00SK8ME4Y#
2. GPS Module
   1. Price: $40
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/746
3. Vibration Module
   1. Price: $6.95
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11008?_ga=2.218497438.624035456.1554576553-2048369341.1554576553
4. Patch
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: http://eliteembroideryandscreenprinting.com/
5. Transistor
   1. Price: $0.30
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/on-semiconductor/PN2222ABU/PN2222AFS-ND/6534&?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9Kmo5G84QIV1LjACh2IEQZDEAQYAyABEgJoIfD_BwE

Areas of Concern:

This week I’m going to integrate all of the technology with the visual aspect. Sewing the button together and  putting all the electronics into some sort of container so that everything fits together.

I think that I’ll need some help this week just figuring out how to organize everything together so that it is easy to disconnect from the jacket to take out.

Also, the patch is non-traditional, so there is no satin edging. I might need help with how to make the edges of the patch look neater (in the image 2 of the patches are cut close to the edge, the other patch is still connected to a larger piece of fabric).

Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter Electronic

Natalie Tack

Weekly Accomplishments:

This week I got the GPS working, the vibrator working (with Kevin’s help), and ordered the patch from the embroidery shop (thank you Marianne for the fabric!).

I also soldered all the connections for each respective module. The only thing that is not yet soldered is all the connections to the Circuit Playground Express. I want to get all the modules working together on the Circuit Playground Express before soldering those connections.

Image:

Material List:

1. FM Stereo Radio Transmitter
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-Stereo-Transmitter-RBDS-Breakout/dp/B00SK8ME4Y#
2. GPS Module
   1. Price: $40
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/746
3. Vibration Module
   1. Price: $6.95
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11008?_ga=2.218497438.624035456.1554576553-2048369341.1554576553
4. Patch
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: http://eliteembroideryandscreenprinting.com/
5. Transistor
   1. Price: $0.30
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/on-semiconductor/PN2222ABU/PN2222AFS-ND/6534&?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn9Kmo5G84QIV1LjACh2IEQZDEAQYAyABEgJoIfD_BwE

Areas of Concern:

I do not currently have any areas of concern for this week, I just want to get all the modules working together, so when the button is pressed three times, it should start the radio, then vibrate 3 times, then say the message on the radio, with the GPS coordinates.

I plan to get all the modules working together this week and then solder them together when they do.

Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter Electronic (ROETE)

Natalie Tack

Image:

Weekly Accomplishments:

I soldered the inputs on the radio module. Kevin suggested that this may help the connection, as the audio was only playing out the speaker and not over the radio. This did help a lot, so thank you Kevin! The audio now comes out both the speakers and over the radio. This really is not a big concern that it comes out of two places, at the end of this project, if I have time I figure out how to disable the speaker.

I also got in contact with a company located in Sun Prairie who say that I can bring in my patch design and they can make it for me for $10. They just say it is not going to be a traditional patch and I have to bring in my own piece of fabric. I might have some questions about this.

Material List:

1. 1. FM Stereo Radio Transmitter (already purchased and in use)
      1. Price: $20
      2. Quantity: 1
      3. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-Stereo-Transmitter-RBDS-Breakout/dp/B00SK8ME4Y#
   2. GPS Module
      1. Price: $40
      2. Quantity: 1
      3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/746
   3. Vibration Module
      1. Price: $2
      2. Quantity: 1
      3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1201?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI36npo8Hz4AIVDYdpCh2TdwvHEA
   1. Patch
      1. Price: $10
      2. Quantity: 1
      3. Link: http://eliteembroideryandscreenprinting.com/

    

2. Concerns:

   Mentioned above, I just have one question. What type of fabric should I bring in to get the patch sewn on (at the Sun Prairie company)? I also don’t know how long it will take for them to sew the patch, so I should get my design to them as soon as possible.

Radio Outdoor Emergency Transmitter (ROET)

Natalie Tack

Weekly Accomplishments:

I worked out a regular expression to get the location data from the GPS module, I also figured out how to output audio from the circuit playground express (CPE) to the radio, without an AUX cord. I had a setback this week, with the Arduino IDE not working for me. I wasn’t sure this was the issue at first, so I troubleshooted it and in the end had to uninstall the IDE and reinstall it.

By the end of this next week I plan to have the CPE output audio correctly to the radio, and correctly output the audio for GPS coordinates.

Images:

The below image is of the modules I received this week to complete my project (except the vibration module).

Material List:

1. FM Stereo Radio Transmitter (already purchased and in use)
   1. Price: $20
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Adafruit-Stereo-Transmitter-RBDS-Breakout/dp/B00SK8ME4Y#
2. GPS Module
   1. Price: $40
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/746
3. Vibration Module
   1. Price: $2
   2. Quantity: 1
   3. Link: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1201?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI36npo8Hz4AIVDYdpCh2TdwvHEAQYAiABEgLWm_D_BwE

Areas of Concern:

My only concern currently is that all the connections I make to/from the CPE function correctly. Another struggle I had this weekend was making sure my connections were completed, it took a lot of trial and error with the wires to make sure everything was connected.

When I eventually solder the wires to the modules I’ll have to make sure that the connections work perfectly before soldering everything.